Greece/Kalambaka or Trikala, Santorini and Mykonos

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Expert: Denny - 2/24/2013

QuestionQUESTION: Hello, I am planning to visit Greece in July, 2013.
I am going to take train from Thessaloniki to Trikala or Kalambaka and stay for a night. Then visit Meteora the next day. And I hope to get to Patras after visiting Meteora.
I am wondering if this is possible, or should I stay two days?
And where do you think I should stay, Trikala or Kalambaka?
If I stay in Kalambaka it will be: Thessaloniki-Kalambaka(stay one night)-visit Meteora(bus or taxi)- back to Kalambaka-Trikala-Patras
And if I stay in Trikala I will have to take one more bus before I get to Meteora, but as far as I know it only takes 30mins, so do you think I should stay in Trikala or in Kalambaka??
Thank you!!
Emily

ANSWER: Yiasou to you Emily, Thankyou for the question,

Far as I know all the buses and trains to Village of Kalambaka make a stop first at TRIKALA,
Trikala is a bit more like a city and it has places to stay up and down the street where the bus depot is which might be more convenient for catching a bus or train for PATRAS, which is a looooong trip whether you go BUS to IOANNINA and then down to Patras; or Athens by train or bus and then across the Peleponesse by train to Patras (I think Patras via Athens would be better, specially due to the high volumn of passengers in July).

Kalambaka is the real base of METEORA. A bus from the center of the village (at the FOUNTAIN) is the spot where the BUS will pick pax up around 8AM for the short 7k trip up the hill to METEORA. Kalambaka is also more fun as 100% of the tourists are all there for the METEORA site ... Nights can be really great times in Kalambaka.

If you are coming in July, try to reserve on-line ahead of time ... Like now ... 'Alsoshouse'
is a good place to stay and 'Yianni' (owner/manager) will pick you up at train or bus station IF he knows when you are coming in. (no extra charge). I think he still has a website www.alsoshouse.com (or ".gr" if .com does not work).

Going to his site will also open many other pensions and hotels in the area for you to check out. Most people stay one nite and then leave by train or bus the following afternoon. If
the Greek summer is at its usual 100 degree-plus in July, maybe you will want to stay as extra nite as the temperature up there in summer might be 10-degrees cooler and there is lots of shade as well.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time
Calo taxiedi
Denny

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for your answer.
Glad you like my place!
And I go to Patras because I am going to visit Olympia from there. I will stay at Patras for two nights. The first day I will visit Olympia through Pirgos, and then the second day I will go to Delphi(do you think I should take bus or drive there?), after visiting Delphi I will go back to Athens and then to Santorini.
Another important thing about Patras is that this trip is part of a project and I wish to take a look at Patras University. And is there any other things that you will suggest me to do in Patras? and how about in Pirgos?
Thank you again!

Emily

ANSWER: Cali Spera Emily, Thanks for keeping intouch,
,
Well I was right about Olympia. You will find Patras to be a busy noisy bustling community,
Much like a smaller version of Athens (or perhaps I should say PIRAEUS, the port of Athens, as they are both on the water and so much of their life evolves around the waterfront)
Their University is very nice and I think you will find a find group of people go there.

PIRGOS is another hub that is used mainly for those in transit, coming and going to and from
Olympia and other destinations in the Western Peleponesse. Their bus and train depots are extremely busy in the summer months. The buses are leaving almost every 5-minutes to someplace. They go to OLYMPIA every 15 minutes. If anything else interesting about Pirgos
comes to mind I will send you a "follow up".

DELPHI to the east to Patras. Traffic is a bit 'thick' until you cross the bridge to the
north suburb of Patras and start driving east but then it isn't bad. The drive is not terribly
far, about an hour, but if you have time the road along the water is slow (lots of small villages) but more scenic then the main hi-way. The BUS is a better and cheaper option, and they run about 7-times a day between Patras and a town close to DELPHI. Then depending on what bus you have taken you will stay on to Delphi or have to get off and catch another bus or Taxi into Delphi. You see, the road goes north at that point and and alot of buses go on to Thessalonika by-passing Delphi, which is kind of a mountaineous region. I'll check it out further for you on what is looking more and more like a "Follow up" of some length,

DELPHI is a 3 hour bus ride to Athens, Then you can see the sites in Athens and after a day or so, take the metro (30-minutes) to PIRAEUS and take the ferry to Santorini. Ferrys run every day and several nites to Santorini. About 35-euro on the BIG cruise ship size car ferrys.
No reservations, just get to the ship an hour to 90 minutes befor hand, get a ticket and get on-board. Don't forget yo ask for a 'student rate'.

Boun viaggio
Calo taxiedi
Denny

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello, I got some problem with the traveling between Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. I was only planning to go to Santorini but now I added Mykonos.
Now I am still thinking which island I will visit first, what will you suggest?
And I checked the ferry between Mykonos and Santorini, and found it around €55.5, I am wondering if there's any cheaper choice? and where can I find them?
Thank you!

AnswerYiasou Emily, nice to hear from you again, * follow up *

REF: Mykonos - Santorini (another way)

The 55.5 euro route is offered once a day either way and you have to reserve a seat
because the seats are limited . It is about a 3-hour trip.

There is (or was, as you never really know for certain from year to year)

Take the car ferry that goes every day from MYKONOS to PAROS. (3-hours) About 20-euro.
THEN catch the car-ferry from PAROS to SANTORINI (again 3-hours)about 20-euro.
= NO reservations ,,, just buy ticket at the port or kiosk along the waterfront and get
on board . Do not know the exact times of sailing, but used to be about 11:AM out of
Mykonos going to Paros.

This way you will save money and the trip is alot more comfortable then the Flying Dolphin
but you do have to change ferrys and you will spend alot more of your day on the sea.

There is another that I have never tried ... it is Mykonos to IOS via Naxos and then out of
IOS to Santorini (and vica-versa) . Longer time frame here to.

I will check on the schedule for 2013 when it becomes available, probably the latter part of March. If and When ... I will write to you.